"How these curiosities would be quite forgott, did not such idle fellowes as I am putt them down." John Aubrey

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Tag Archives: Nur Jahan

I once asked an editor of a history magazine what sort of stuff he didn’t get enough of, and the answer was unequivocal – India. It does seem curious that a country as ancient and as rich in history and characters should be so roundly ignored in the west. By characters, I mean women such as Nur Jahan.

Nur Jahan was the twentieth wife of the Mogul Emperor Jahangir. She must have been something to see. Like Josephine, she was the widow of a soldier (a rebel against Jahangir, as it happened) and already had a daughter by that man when Jahangir first saw her (1611). They were married within two months. Continue reading →